Home on Naboo
by Strong in the force
Summary: Rey and Ben have found a home on Naboo. One afternoon as they are playing with their children, they remember the events that have led them to this day. One Shot


She looked out over the balcony of their home taking in the green rolling hills. As a young woman who had spent most of her life on a sand planet, the green of the galaxy always took her breath away. She peered down into the courtyard at her small family. Her husband was playing tag with their two children. His long gait carried him around the courtyard just outside of his children's grasp. She smiled taking in their play.

They'd found themselves pregnant shortly after settling onto Naboo. Their first appointment with the droid midwife had left them stunned.

"Two?" She'd exclaimed with her eyes wide.

"Are you kidding?" He'd said in disbelief. His eyes had shined in excitement.

"Yes. Twins often skip generations." The droid, MW-4, had said knowingly.

He'd nodded, thinking of his mother and his uncle.

"How will we manage?" She'd asked him shaking her head. Their little family was going to double in size, she'd thought in amazement.

Ben looked up at her from the courtyard and beamed, distracting him long enough for the twins to tackle him to the ground. Their laughter filled the courtyard as they wrestled playfully with their father. Rey laughed as the twins overpowered their dad. She had found the belonging she had desired for so long. Two children of the galaxy, who grew up isolated and desperately alone, had found family with each other.

At bedtime the twins would ask about their family, why they hadn't any grandparents like their classmates. Their father recounted certain details about his heroic parents, but left out moments of tragedy for now. There'd come a time to tell his children everything about himself, but their childhood was not that time. Their mother recounted parts of her difficult, lonely childhood on Jakku, which had made the twins ever more thankful for present and kind parents. Together, they'd shared stories of their lightsaber battles against the dark. The children didn't know of their father's alter ego and the local community did not remind them. There'd come a time when he'd tell his children about how, for a time, he'd succumbed to the power of the dark side, but their childhood was not that time.

"Come join us, Mama!" Her daughter called up to her from her place of triumph on her father's chest. He was flat on the ground with the twins holding him captive.

"I will!" She laughed. "That doesn't look like a fair fight!"

"Oh, I can handle myself!" Ben called back from his place on the ground. "I'm only slightly compromised."

"Don't believe him, Mom!" Her son exclaimed. "He needs your help!"

"Don't I know it." Rey winked.

She retreated into their house to make her way down to the courtyard. She walked through their bedroom. Ben's calligraphy set was sitting on his small desk in their bedroom.

He'd write her beautiful, little love notes and he'd hide them around their home for her to find. They were very Ben. Thoughtful, sweet. He'd always been impulsive with his spoken words, but in his writing, after he'd taken time to think, his thoughts soared across the page and left Rey speechless. He'd left her favorite note in her dresser drawer and she'd discovered it getting ready for the day.

"Rey, my darling one,

I love you,

I love you,

I love you,

And I will love you today,

And I will love you all my days,

And I will love you when I'm here,

And I will love you when I am gone

One with the Force.

But I will always,

Always be one with you."

He'd watched her secretly from the hallway. He couldn't help himself. The note had fallen to the ground and she'd stooped to pick it up.

"Oh, Ben," he'd heard her say softly. A tender smile had stretched across his face as he watched her read the note.

When she'd finished reading it, he'd walked quietly up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist and nuzzled his face into her neck.

"This is so beautiful, Ben," she'd told him, as she wrapped her arms around his. "Your words and calligraphy are so lovely."

He'd kissed her neck gently in response. "You are what is so lovely."

Years earlier, he'd asked her about marriage as the First Order had fallen was being formed. They'd not been parted since the destruction of the darkest side of the Force, but they'd struggled to name their connection. Destiny had paired them, but what control did they have in the shape of their connection, their union.

"Marriage? It's forbidden of the Jedi, Ben." She'd looked up at him curiously.

"Of the Jedi Order, but there is no Jedi Order. Two does not make an order." He'd replied.

"But we _could_ make an order. We could teach a new generation of Jedi," her eyes had sparkled as she talked.

"I'd only be interested in a New Order. The secrecy and forbidden nature of love was the Jedi's original downfall."

"Well, let's do it."

"Do what?" He'd wanted clarification. What exactly was she saying "yes" to?

"All of it. Start a New Order that includes the balance of love." She'd moved closer to him and placed her hand on his cheek. "What could be a stronger force than love? The Jedi were afraid of love's dark side, but they'd forgotten its light."

Then he'd caressed her hand, the one resting on his face. He'd lingered there for a moment taking her in. The softness of her face, the warmth of her touch, the sincerity in her voice. She was his partner, his other half, his dyad, and Force mate and he was hers-body and soul.

"You're right," he'd whispered with a gentle smile, thinking of the lengths he would go for her. What was his own life if she was not there?

Rey trotted into the courtyard and naively the twins abandoned their posts keeping their father pinned down. They charged towards their mom with the reckless abandon of adolescence. She took off in the other direction making a wide arc around the courtyard. Ben, now freed from the twin's restraints, rose from the ground and watched with amusement as his twins chased their mother. His warm smile stretched across his face.

He'd played tag with his own father when he was a young boy. They'd spend afternoons playing around on the Millennium Falcon. Uncle Chewie taught him to play Dejarik, or holochess, when his Dad was working on repairs. He'd sat in the cockpit more times than he could count pretending to steer the grounded Falcon through hyperspace.

"Your grandfather built ships like this, maybe even this very one," Han had told Ben, slipping into the co-pilot seat next to him.

"Do you think I'll be a great pilot like you one day, Dad?" Little Ben had asked him.

"Flying definitely runs in the family. Your grandfather was the best pod racer in the galaxy when he was your age." Han has said this as he ruffled his son's hair, imagining little Ben pod racing. "But, I think you can be whatever you want to be, Ben," he'd said that looking at his son tenderly.

"Do you really think so?" Ben looked up hopefully.

"I know so."

As Rey raced ahead of the twins, Ben headed them off and plucked up his son. With only one left, Rey swiftly turned on her daughter and swooped her into her arms.

"Aha! We've got you now!" She exclaimed, tickling her daughter mercilessly.

"Resistance is futile!" Ben joined, holding his son upside down.

The twins laughed and giggled. "No! Stop!" They pleaded as their parents tickled and tickled them. Eventually showing mercy they placed their children on the ground gently. Catching her breath, Rey's daughter leaned into her and smiled.

"I love you, Mama," she closed her eyes tenderly. "Thanks for coming to play."

"Of course." She wrapped her arms around her daughter. "Who knows what would have happened to your father without me."

"I don't even want to think about it." Ben shook his head.

"I think we should go inside and regroup," their son said, gesturing to his sister.

She nodded, "I need a snack!"

They all chuckled as the twins wandered inside, leaving Ben and Rey alone in the courtyard. He extended his hand. She took it and he pulled her close to him.

"Thank you for rescuing me," he said genuinely, tenderly.

She smiled up at him. "You're most welcome."

She leaned up and gave him a warm kiss. He returned her love by wrapping his arms around her ever more tightly.

He'd meant it then and he'd meant it years ago. Ben had returned, casting aside Kylo Ren and all of his dark aspirations, yet he still had to answer for the crimes of his past. Naboo welcomed them warmly, but some places in the galaxy still reeled from the First Order's crimes. In order to form a New Republic, victims of the First Order and Kylo Ren had to be heard.

The Space Reconciliation Initiative required former First Order leaders to hear from the victims of their crimes. Ben was required to sit in the tribunal and listen. He listened to the aftermath of the violence to which Kylo Ren had been a part. He'd struggled to sleep those nights, even with Rey by his side.

"It won't be easy," she'd said. "There is much to reconcile. The galaxy needs healing and this is a part of that."

"I know." He'd responded.

"I'll be right here. I know all that you've done." She'd looked at him earnestly wanting to make sure that he believed every word. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Thank you for rescuing me," he'd told her sincerely.

"You rescued yourself. I was just here waiting for you when you did."

Eventually, he'd been pardoned with the Intergalactic Treaty that abolished the First Order for good. The New Republic had been wary about his involvement in a New Jedi Order, but in time their surveillance of him ceased and they'd been allowed to live in peace on Naboo.

The twins returned with their training sabers in hand. They took their respective offensive positions. Ben looked down at Rey.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," he said loud enough for the twins to hear, but offered a small wink and tiny smile in the corner of his mouth that only Rey could see.

With loud battle cries, the twins took off towards their parents. In the spirit of play, Rey and Ben took their defensive stances. Side by side, they faced their greatest joy and the brightest light in their lives.

And so Rey of Jakku and Ben Solo found balance in the Force through the ins and outs of their daily love. In the raising of their children, they experienced the joys of play and the trials of growing up. They began a New Jedi Order founded on the strength of love, not on the fear of it, and on the understanding of its light and shadow sides. They found peace on a green and blue planet home to family and created their own home. They did not become blind to fear and anger in the face of love, but holding it fiercely and tenderly, they gave love its strength. They found balance in the pursuit of love.


End file.
